Vocals too high in the mix? Too low? Not even sure? Snare sounds wonky? And how do I make everything louder than everything else? Step in, step in, for your mix Viagra from people who know the secrets.
JD01 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:15 am
This is why I don't understand what the point of specific mastering plugin is.
What do you find the difference is? Just simplicity and a nice interface?
Instead of stacking plugs I like that it's all-in-one. I like that, however it's coded, it does seem to be pretty transparent even at squashy levels. I like that it's pleasing to look at and work with. That's just me. I'm a simple guy. I like things that are simple. When I first use a plug in, if I can't just jump in and use it then I shelf it forever. I have some Steven Slate stuff that's so unnecessarily complicated I haven't even looked it in years. But this Ozone thing was simple right off the bat and works well so I stuck with it even if it doesn't really do anything that I couldn't do some other way.
But like anything it's up to the user. You have to use it properly. You have to have good ears. No plug in is magic.
JD01 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:15 am
This is why I don't understand what the point of specific mastering plugin is.
What do you find the difference is? Just simplicity and a nice interface?
Instead of stacking plugs I like that it's all-in-one. I like that, however it's coded, it does seem to be pretty transparent even a squashy levels. I like that it's pleasing to look at and work with. That's just me. I'm a simple guy. I like things that are simple. When I first use a plug in, if I can't just jump in and use it then I shelf it forever. I have some Steven Slate stuff that's so unnecessarily complicated I haven't even looked it in years. But this Ozone thing was simple right off the bat and works well so I stuck with it even if it doesn't really do anything that I couldn't do some other way.
Great. That's enough of a recommendation for me.
So is this all you have on your master?
JD01 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 11:33 am
Great. That's enough of a recommendation for me.
So is this all you have on your master?
Most of the time, yes, that's it. Sometimes I'll put some kind of "tape" plug before the mastering plug, but usually it's just the Ozone thing.
Cool, I'm straightening a bunch of other stuff out with mixes and then I'm going to try it.
I'm just going through my template and I think my drum mix is over-complicated.
Ozone uses AI to master. You can give it a snippet of any audio, and it will make a mastering profile of it that you can apply to your mix. Typically you'd still need to make some manual adjustments for your particular mix, but Ozone can pretty much do everything for you. For my version of Don't Let Me Down, it analyzed the audio and chose the Rock profile. That one was too loud and big, so I clicked on the R&B profile. Boom, that was the one. I did literally nothing but choose a stock profile. If I were emulating the sound of the original Beatles track, I could have made a profile from that recording and applied it to mine. But AI aside, it does have separate modules for EQ, compression, etc. You can do anything you want manually.
It's almost a bit of a letdown, because I've been studying mastering. Even looked into it as a career. But then I discovered Ozone, and it's like well shit - fuck me learning stuff. Apparently robots can do this now.
paulman wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:20 am
It's almost a bit of a letdown, because I've been studying mastering. Even looked into it as a career. But then I discovered Ozone, and it's like well shit - fuck me learning stuff. Apparently robots can do this now.
Suits me! I'd rather devote my time to writing, recording and mixing.
paulman wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:20 am
It's almost a bit of a letdown, because I've been studying mastering. Even looked into it as a career. But then I discovered Ozone, and it's like well shit - fuck me learning stuff. Apparently robots can do this now.
Suits me! I'd rather devote my time to writing, recording and mixing.
It is pretty cool. I can get my masters sounding great on my monitors, but the tricky part is getting them to sound good on everything. Ozone will do it. Streaming, shitty Bluetooth speakers, all of it.
I usually just use a compressor into a limiter and a loudness meter on my master bus any more. Maybe an EQ if I'm really struggling to get things right in the mix. Usually it's Waves RCompressor into Waves L2 and Waves WLM at the end to check loudness.
But I have stumbled upon a couple of pretty solid "mastering" VSTs lately. Both of these have really impressed me:
- Brainworx bx_masterdesk is pretty user-friendly and flexible. There are a few different compressor modes, controls for low/mid/hi/presence, mid/side and stereo width and a blend knob (not really needed in Reaper since you can blend any VST with the dry signal). I got this one free with a bundle that RME offered when I did my big interface upgrade. I've seen it on sale and as a freebie from Plugin Alliance. At full price, I think it's way too expensive.
- Softube Drawmer S73 really surprised me. I got this one free with the UA Volt interface (that plugin bundle is going to be tough to give up when I eventually sell that interface). It has several "modes" that go from brighter to darker, and it really provided some polish on the master bus of the project that I used it on. I wasn't expecting much but it was a pleasant surprise.
I used to have a bias against Ozone, but that was because I've heard so many people absolutely butcher their mixes with it. I was blaming the tools and not the knuckleheads that were cranking the limiting way too far. I'd be curious to give it a try sometime. The full version is an investment though. Come to think of it, I may have grabbed that Elements version that Greg has for free at some point too. Maybe Tony pointed us to it? (just found the email...got it for free from Sweetwater in April of 2020). No sign of it being installed on my computer though. Well, I guess I'll go do that!
For the last couple of years I've been using Reaper's mid/side plugings during mastering. They're not super easy to use, but there is a Kenny G video on Youtube that will get you through it.
I'll compress the mid band just a little bit. Like 2db of gain reduction and somewhere between 1-2 db of makeup gain. I just use ReaComp. I may also do some minor EQing of the sides - like a 1-2 db boost in the 1.5-2kHz range - maybe a little less than an octave wide.
It helps with front to back separation. It's not a huge difference maker, but it is an improvement.
After that, I'll usually have two layers of limiting. I use a free plug called LoudMax.
